Feed Your Brain what It Wants. It will Return the Favor by Helping You with Your Money

The brain is a beautiful thing. It is a structure that weighs about three pounds, is protected by the skull and skin and runs our life. The brain is soft and you can slice it with a butter knife. It generates about 25 watts of power while we are awake, enough to light a dim bulb (now you know where the phrase “a light just went off in my head” refers to.) The brain with its many folds in the cerebral cortex alone, if spread out, would cover about two and a half feet of space. The brain is constantly firing up its 100 billion or so neurons (about the same amount of stars in our galaxy.) The brain is accustomed to chaos as random information and stimuli are fed to the neurons by neurotransmitters and synapses.

Although it is responsible for directing so much of our lives, we are usually unaware of it. But as much as the brain feeds off of chaos it loves systems and it is to this point that I want to bring our attention. You see the neural networks in the brain gather and transform the stimuli it receives and organizes it.

Why do systems work so well for the brain? As I read about the brain and hear what psychologists and scientists say about this organ, it appears the brain creates systems for recognition, adaptability, and accessibility. If every time we looked at our shoes and wondered what they were and what to do with them, well, that wouldn’t be fun…not every time. The brain provides recognition patterns for us to use to make our lives a lot easier. Finally, the brain provides easy accessibility. You want to remember something? Ask your brain. It will tell you where you last left your smart phone. Granted, it might wait two hours before it re-“minds” you where you left it, but it will remind you.

Okay, now how does this tie in to your relationship with money? If the brain likes recognition, accessibility and adaptability well just give it what it wants to help with money habits and behaviors.

Once you set these jars or accounts up and use them, you will be amazed at how the brain will support your behaviors and habits, giving you creative ideas on how to improve upon your uses of money. Try it. Let me know what you learn as a result. I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time, I leave you with this final question: What will you feed your brain so it helps you with your money?